East Meets West. Deep in Love. Hard to settle on a title for the wedding day of Jennifer and Polachi Sakchalathorn who were married on the first Saturday in September at the beautiful orchard at the Farm Kitchen, an 18-acre organic farm near Poulsbo.  Jennifer and Polachai were lucky that the weather was warm and sunny  and so were the smiles. Polachai is from Thailand, known to travelers to Southeast Asia as the Land of Smiles.

Jennifer was glowing in her beautiful wedding dress that looked like a cloud.

Jennifer and Polachai celebrated their marriage with a ceremony that incorporated part western ceremony and part Buddhist wedding ceremony. The Thai traditional water ceremony, (or in Thai, Rod Nam Sang) which involved the bride and groom sitting side by side at a special table. Then their family and guests, led by the most respected elders, had the opportunity to bestow their individual blessings. They did this, one by one, by gently pouring water from a conch shell over the hands of the couple. The water passes through the hands of the bride and groom and into a bowl filled with flowers, (typically lotus flowers which symbolize fertility) beneath. It was serene and evocative mixing the  Buddhist wedding ceremony with the western ceremony. Annemarie Juhlian was the wedding officiant who melded the two cultures together with ease.

Jennifer was very sweet to invite my daughter Claire to be their flower girl. Claire was in seventh heaven and played her part well. Thank you again Jennifer for making her day.

After some pictures and a fine dinner, Jennifer and Polachai danced a lot to some great live music. However, it was Jennifer’s grandfather who seemed to be out on the dance floor more than anyone. Whenever I looked, he was dancing with a different partner. He really knows how to move.

Here are some highlights from a wonderful wedding on a beautiful day. At the bottom is an extended slideshow with more pictures from their wedding.

Jennifer’s unique bouquet and other flowers were by the amazing Rebecca Slattery of Persephone Farms.  The reception had everyone out on the dance floor dancing to the awesome swing band JAVATOWN SWING ORCHESTRA lead by the talented Seattle vocalist, trumpet player and band leader Jake Bergevin.  Essence of the Thymes provided the wonderful catering. They really know how to cook. Krista Herman of Wishes Weddings & Events helped plan their wedding day for them. Monica Frisell assisted as my second photographer. Here are some highlights from a wonderful wedding on a beautiful day. At the bottom is an extended slideshow with more pictures from their wedding.

Here is a link to Jennifer and Polachi‘s previous post of their Farm Kitchen Wedding.

Below is a mini-slide show with a larger selection of wedding pictures from Jennifer and Polachi‘s wedding. Click on “toggle images” at top right to hide the thumbnails; to start just click on the right arrow on the image.

Erinn Houghton and Shawn Buckner were one of my really fun wedding couples this past summer. They were married aboard the historic MV Skansonia on Lake Union on the last weekend in August. It was a hot day in Seattle.  Not a cloud in the sky. It was one of those few really sunny days we had this summer. It was a joy to photograph in the brilliant light.  Erinn and Shawn and their friends in the wedding party were all blast to photograph and we made a lot of pictures at Gasworks Park before the guests were due to arrive at the Skansonia. Here are some of the highlights of their day.     

Here is a link to Erinn and Shawn’s previous post of their Skansonia Wedding Photography.

Below is a mini-slide show with some more pictures from Erinn and Shawn’s wedding. Click on “toggle images” at top right to hide the thumbnails; to start just click on the right arrow on the image.

After a week of rain here in the Pacific Northwest, signaling the start of a cool wet winter, it was very pleasant to experience a beautiful, mild and partly sunny afternoon on Saturday, as Miracal Bjornstrom and Aaron Watson were married at DeLille Cellars. They held the wedding ceremony inside the tent as the beautiful ground were still quite soggy, but we did get to do some photography before the ceremony in different spots around the wonderful grounds and gardens in softly filtered  late afternoon sunlight. Outstanding food and service was provided by Blue Ribbon Cooking & Culinary Center. Here are a few images to preview the rest that will come after being edited and processed.

Back on August 20th I had the pleasure of photographing a fun and loving couple. Maureen Barrett and Mark Smith were married at St Thomas More Church, by her uncle, an Irish missionary priest who flew in from Brazil. Maureen’s mom is from Ireland and so were many of the guests attending. As a special treat at the reception at the Edmonds Conference Center a troop of Irish step dancers put on a performance. Monica Frisell once again was my associate photographer making many fine pictures.

Here is a link to Maureen and Mark’s Wedding Web gallery. Below is a mini-slide show with some more pictures from Maureen and Mark”s Wedding in Edmonds . Click on “toggle images” at top right to hide the thumbnails; to start just click on the right arrow on the image.

Two gold rings. Patrick McVittie and Nicole Nichols were married in August aboard the historic ferry MV Skansonia and the rings they exchanged were handcrafted by Patrick. It took some time for him the learn the casting process. I believe that it took him 32 casting alone just for his ring. But in the end his persistence paid off and they exchanged two beautiful golden rings at their wedding. It was a warm and clear day their wedding day was full of fun and dancing. I especially love the final images. Nicole had a surprise for Patrick. Her exit strategy was planned in secret and she pulled it off with style.

I want to present some of the highlights of the day with these pictures. Rev Ray VanWinkle performed the ceremony and Monica Frisell assisted with the photography.

Here is a link to the Nicole and Patrick’s Wedding Web gallery. Below is a mini-slide show with some more pictures from Nicole and Patrick’s Skansonia Wedding . Click on “toggle images” at top right to hide the thumbnails; to start just click on the right arrow on the image.